January 5, 2010 Planning Board Minutes
In the absence of both the Chairman and Vice Chair, Selectman Mike Ouellet acted as chairman and opened the meeting at 7 pm. Board member present was Sandra Riendeau. Alternate Charles Baldwin was asked to sit in for Danny Lyons. Board member John Jolles arrived shortly after the meeting began.
Others present were Dick and Frances Sytek, James Barba, Dana Masson, Dick Hicks, Phil Lambert and Sheila Beauchemin.
Boundary-line Adjustment Public Hearing:
P.A. Hicks & Sons / James D. & Ruth Barba – Mr. Ouellet read the boundary-line adjustment application for property located at 9 Merrill Street, owned by P.A. Hicks & Sons, and property located at 45 and 47 Park Street, owned by James D. & Ruth Barba. This proposed boundary-line adjustment would remove 4,153 square feet from the lot located at 45 Park Street, along with 100.6 square feet from the lot at 47 Park Street. This removed acreage would be added to the lot at 9 Merrill Street. No waivers were requested.
Abutter Frances Systek expressed her concern regarding whether this action might eventually create an access for the lumberyard onto Park Street. She did not wish to see more trucks going in and out near her residence. Mike Ouellet stated what might happen to the property in the future held no bearing on the boundary-line adjustment at present.
A review of the plan indicated that, currently, the lots addressed at 45 and 47 Park Street are considered grandfathered or "lots of record", and as such, do not have to comply with the Zoning Ordinance regulations. Any change (which the boundary line adjustment would create) cuases them to no longer be a "lot of record". The newly created lot must comply with the current Zoning Ordinance. Article IV.1 of the Zoning Ordinance requires a 150-foot frontage on either a public street or approved private street. The newly created lots would not have this road frontage.
Dick Hicks asked why this ruling had not affected his last subdivision which encompassed a majority of the lots along Park Street, most of which are non-conforming. It was explained that the Planning Board missed the situation earlier, but had since been made aware of their error; therefore, each subdivision/boundary-line adjustment must consider this factor when reviewing a plan.
Charles Baldwin made a motion to deny the boundary-line adjustment as presented due to the fact that the newly created lots would not meet the zoning ordinance requirement for 150-foot frontage. Sandra Riendeau seconded and all present agreed.
Mike Ouellet explained to Mr. Hicks and Mr. Barba that they had the right to appeal the determination to the Colebrook Zoning Board of Adjustment and ask for the approval of a variance. The Planning Board would have no objection to a variance being granted and would re-consider the application and plan if one should be obtained.
Waiver of Site Plan Regulations:
P.A. Hicks & Sons – Richard Hicks Jr. presented a request for waiver of site plan regulations to expand his lumber yard to store lumber and create an area for snow. The boundary-line adjustment which would have created this expansion was denied due to lack of 150-foot frontage of two newly created lots. It is the Board’s understanding that Mr. Hicks will be applying for a variance from the ZBA. It was determined that this Waiver of Site Plan Regulations should be tabled until such time as the boundary-line adjustment is approved.
Conceptual Subdivision:
Phil Lambert, Jr. – Mr. Lambert is proposing a three-lot subdivision of his property located on Titus Hill. The Board could see no problems with the design. A public hearing will be warned for February.
Zoning Ordinance Amendment Public Hearing:
Acting Chairman Mike Ouellet called the Public Hearing to order at approximately 8 pm. The proposed amendments consisted of the following:
Remove the Certificate of Occupancy section from the Town of Colebrook's Zoning Ordinance.
Amend the name of the Building Permit to "Zoning Certificate of Compliance".
Remove the second definition for Dwelling Unit amended in 2004.
The Board explained their proposal of these amendments for the following reasons:
The Town of Colebrook has not adopted enforcement of the State Building Code or any local codes. The Certificate of Occupancy section could lead to confusion due to the Town of Colebrook’s current requirement for documents referred to on the Certificate of Occupancy. Therefore, the amendment to remove this section.
Charles Baldwin stated that, to his knowledge, there is no licensing requirement for framing a home within New Hampshire. He remarked that he felt the cost would be prohibitive to the Town to require a building inspector, unless one could be shared regionally. He didn’t argue that inspection is the safe thing to do, but would be a costly endeavor for the town. It was pointed out that the State Building Code applies to all municipalites regardless of whether they choose to enforce it or not. Enforcement falls to the State Fire Marshall’s office in towns that do not enforce it.
The change in the name of this form is to more accurately reflect its purpose. Upon review, the Board decided that the amended name for Building Permits should read “Zoning Ordinance Certificate of Compliance” rather than Zoning Certificate of Compliance.
The removal of the second definition for Dwelling Unit was proposed as it appeared to repeat a portion of the first definition already within the Zoning Ordinance. After review, John Jolles remarked that the definition being proposed for deletion appeared to be more encompassing than the first definition and, suggested the two defintions be merged.
John Jolles made a motion to use the wording as it appeared in the Public Hearing Notice for the ballot questions with the addition of the word "Ordinance" in amendment #2 and to merge, rather than delete, the second definition for Dwelling. Sandra Riendeau seconded and all present agreed.
The public hearing was adjourned at 8:25 pm.
Bills:
John Jolles made a motion to approve payment of the invoice for $97.75 from the News & Sentinel. Sandra Riendeau seconded and all present agreed.
Old Business:
James Jefferes - The Board reviewed the certficates of occupancy returned once more by James Jeffers. Mike Ouellet expressed concern over the fact that the name of tradesmen are scratched out. He also did not feel the sales receipts from EW Electric were documentation enough because they only stated "two modular houses in Colebrook" – not whose houses. Consideration was made to notify the Fire Marshall; however, it was decided to wait to have Chairman McKinnon speak to the issue first as he was the one to have the initial conversation with Mr. Jeffers.
John Jolles made a motion to approve the December 1, 2009 minutes as written. Sandra Riendeau seconded and all present agreed.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila M. Beauchemin
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